Federal court dismisses complaint against Penrose funeral home owners for fleeing prosecution

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The federal complaint filed against Jon and Carie Hallford for fleeing prosecution in Colorado is now dismissed, according to the Eastern District Federal Court of Oklahoma.

According to the federal complaint, the couple left Colorado after state officials found nearly 200 decomposing bodies inside their funeral home in Penrose. The complaint said the bodies, dating back to 2019, were “stacked on top of each other” and “human decomposition fluids and insects lined the floors.”

On Wednesday, the couple was arrested in Wagoner, Oklahoma. Carie Hallford was scheduled to have a court appearance on the federal fleeing prosecution charge Thursday, but the court clerk told KRDO 13 Investigates the hearing was canceled because the federal complaint was dismissed.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Oklahoma said this is a normal procedure. Once law enforcement realized the Hallfords were in Oklahoma, a federal complaint for fleeing prosecution was filed to allow law enforcement outside of Colorado help in the investigation and arrest. Once the arrest was made, the federal charges were dropped, as the Hallfords still face several felony charges in Colorado.

KRDO 13 Investigates was able to obtain the federal complaint before the dismissal, which details how federal agents tracked down and arrested the Hallfords in Oklahoma. According to the complaint, law enforcement searched their home in northeast Colorado Springs on October 17, but no one was there. However, law enforcement found key items missing, including toothbrushes, and their landlord said the Hallfords failed to pay October’s rent, so agents believed the couple were on the run.

Residents in the neighborhood told KRDO 13 Investigates the Hallfords recently moved in no longer than six months ago. They said they never interacted with the couple, because they kept to themselves.

The complaint said law enforcement gained access to the Hallford’s cell phone information. It shows Jon Hallford turned off his phone on October 4 — the same day the Department of Regulatory Agencies asked him for access to the Penrose facility due to a “horrific odor.” Jon was supposed to meet with state officials to let them in but he never showed up. According to the complaint, “this was the last communication law enforcement had with Jon Hallford” before he turned off his phone.

The most recent communication law enforcement tracked was between the Hallfords and the landlord for their Colorado Springs funeral home location. According to the federal complaint, their landlord notified the Hallfords on October 31 that he was evicting them from the property. The Hallfords responded that they wouldn't be able to pick up their items and told the landlord to "do what he wanted with it."

Law enforcement were able to track the couple using Carie’s cell phone. The complaint states that by the middle of October, Carie’s phone was located in Oklahoma and federal agents were then able to pinpoint their location to Wagoner, Oklahoma.

The complaint said Oklahoma FBI agents found the Hallfords at Jon’s parents’ house in early November. The couple was then arrested Wednesday.

Despite federal charges being dismissed, the Hallfords are still being held in Oklahoma, awaiting extradition, for state felony charges in Colorado for abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering and forgery.